Am I being stupid to rule out very popular names?

The only names my dh has suggested so far are Charlotte, Sophia, Jessica and Emily. He likes Sam for a boy and basically wants something traditional, popular and well-known. I like these names but we have a very common surname so I want to rule out any top 20 (well, maybe top 50!) names to prevent our child having exactly the same name as someone else in their class.Am I being stupid in restricting our search to less popular names (and dismissing top 50 names we really like) just to avoid them being one of 3 or 4 Sophias, Emilys etc in their class?We're in Surrey if that helps....

I don't think Top 50 means "very popular". DS1 was about 23 in his year and we've only ever met one other. DS2 otoh was #1 in his year and is rarely the only one in any group (eg toddler group).

Even the #1 name in a year is given to less than half of one percent of babies, and once you get below about #10 the numbers tail off quickly.

Some names are popular because they're good.

Some names appear to be unpopular but are easily confused with more popular names (eg Isobel isn't high but is "the same name" as Isabelle/Isabella etc which add up to be ubiquitous roaringly popular).

I think insisting on #50+ is cutting your nose off to spite your face. Avoiding top 20 would avoid the mega popular, but I don't think there's any need to go lower if the names you like are say #36 or #39.